RP:A Certain Slant of Light

From HollowWiki

Part of the Through A Glass, Darkly Arc


Summary: Valrae, after confirming her pregnancy, decided to leave Lithrydel. She travels by sea for nearly a fortnight, finally settling on the Isle of Uireasa.


"Remember the body of your community

Breathe in the people who sewed you whole

It is you who became yourself

But those before you are part of your fabric."

- Rupi Kaur


Isle of Uireasa, Port

The witch couldn’t remember a single thing she’d wanted more than to have her feet planted firmly on a spot of land that didn’t pitch beneath her feet as it did now. They were near enough to see the stretch of coastline, the docks and sails of other ships. Valrae had never been one for sea sickness, she’d grown in Cenril and spent her fair share of time on fishing boats, but she’d never made such a long trip on such a crowded boat… And never pregnant as she was now. Other passengers crowded towards the bow as she did, pressing against her until the scent of water and salt and sunlight was almost drown by the musk of bodies and sweat and life. She felt her stomach riot and wiggled away from the lot of them.

Separated from the worst of the crowd, and smell, she tried to enjoy her first glimpse of the Isle of Uireasa. To the west, Valrae could just see the rolls of green hills dotted white with sheep. They floated lazily over the land like fallen clouds.

The ship headed along the rise of the coastline at a maddeningly slow pace. The witch nearly had a mind to pitch herself over the side of the ship and swim ashore herself, but decided she hadn’t lost enough of her sanity to give into the temptation. Plus, she’d brought enough travelling cases to have needed to spend extra coin doing so. It wouldn’t be worth losing.

Eventually, they made it near enough to port that she could see the bulk of the village called Uaigni’s Cross. It was unlike anything she’d seen in Lithrydel. Most buildings were stones of greys and blues, some old enough that the sea winds had buffeted the uneven brick nearly smooth.The flags that snapped in the wind were white and golden, the sun surrounded in a simple circle on the backdrop of shining ivory. The town itself seemed to lay at the feet of a large, round fort surrounded by high, white walls. It sat on a natural rise of land, at the base of a tall, wide mountain. To the east, the land rose again, leaving the coastline dangerous and rocky. Valrae thought it looked as if the Isle was cupping the town in it’s hand and nearly dipping it back into the sea.

Eventually, they docked. Her first foot onto solid, sturdy ground nearly sent her weeping.


Uaigni’s Cross, The Crooked Door Inn

Months later...


It had only taken her four days to find her aunt. It took almost no convincing, as she’d opened the door to her Inn and seen Valrae’s face and gone white as bone. She had the eyes of her father, Valrae was told, and his magic in her bones. After showing her the family Book of Shadows, it was settled. Months passed with Valrae staying in her aunt Belinda’s Inn. She helped tend it, cleaning rooms and cooking meals. Fetching things from the market. She enjoyed the time she spent with her aunt, though the motherly affection shown to her made a spot in her heart ache like a rotted tooth for Maude.

Belinda introduced her to the coven of Uaigni’s Cross. Valrae joined, practiced her craft and made friends. She’d told her aunt of home, of Cramer and the friends, the man she’d left behind. She told her of her pregnancy. Time passed quietly and Valrae’s child grew inside of her in peace, as she’d hoped. There was simplicity here. In little patches of light that slanted through the Inn’s busy kitchen window and the dance of flour that floated in it’s golden beams as she helped make the morning bread. There was love. In the way her aunt brushed her hair and kissed her growing belly in the mornings. There was magic. On the beach, surrounded by witches who raised their voices under the moons and danced in the firelight without fear of being hunted down for celebrating what sang deep in the blood. Still, an emptiness filled her when she would think of home.

When the invitation to Lanara’s birthday found her, the emptiness had grown to a wide chasm. She hadn’t even written to tell her friends good bye. She’d left without word or warning, only days after calling an informal circle of them together to warn them of Cramer’s list. She’d wanted to do more, be more… But when she’d found that her brother spoke pure truth, that life had been growing inside of her, she’d let fear and selfishness carry her away. Now, so far removed from the threat of violence and the fear that kept her in hiding, the witch wanted nothing more than to see her friends again.

Belinda hadn’t liked it, the idea of Valrae returning to a place as hostile as Lithrydel. She’d begged her to stay. think only of the babe in her belly. She could send a gift across the sea, magically if she’d like. She didn’t need to return in the middle of her pregnancy. In the end, Valrae decided to make the journey back to her home anyway and eased Belinda’s worried heart with the promise that she’d not stay but a single night… With the promised that she’d return to what was now her home.